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SYRINX

SYRINX (σύριγξ), any sort of pipe
or tube (see Dictionaries), but especially the Pan's Pipe, or Pandean Pipe.
This was the appropriate musical instrument of the Arcadian and other
Grecian shepherds, and was regarded by them as the invention of Pan, their
tutelary god (Verg. Ecl. 2.32, 8.24), who was sometimes heard playing upon
it (συρίζων: see Theocr. 1.3, 14, 19;
Schol. in loc.; Longus, 4.27), as they imagined, on
Mount Maenalus (Paus. 8.36.5). It is similarly
attributed to Faunus (Hor. Od. 1.17, 10). When the Roman poets had occasion to
mention it, they called it fistula (Verg. Ecl. 2.36, 3.22, 25; Hor. Od. 4.12, 10;
Ovid, Ov. Met. 8.192, 13.784; Mart.
14.63; Tib. 1.6, 30; Cic. de Orat. 3.61, 225). It
was also variously denominated according to the materials of which it was
constructed, whether of cane (tenuiarundine,Verg. Ecl. 6.8; Hom. Hymn. in
Pana, 15; ποιμενίῳδονάκι,
Brunck, Anal. 1.489), reed (calamo,Verg. Ecl. 1.10, 2.34, 5.2; κάλαμος, Theocr. 8.24; Longus, 1.4), or hemlock (cicuta,Verg. Ecl. 5.85). In general seven hollow
stems of these plants were fitted together by means of wax, having been
previously cut to the proper lengths, and adjusted so as to form an octave
(Verg. Ecl. 2.32, 36); but sometimes nine were admitted, giving
an equal number of notes (Theocr. 8.18-22). Another refinement in the
construction of this instrument, which, however, was rarely practised, was
to arrange the pipes in a curve so as to fit the form of the lip, instead of
arranging them in a plane (Theocr. 1.129). A syrinx of eight reeds is shown
in the gem figured on page 305. The inference from Athen. 4.184 is that the syrinx of joined reeds was an
improvement on the single reed-pipe, which he calls μονοκάλαμοςσῦριγξ: in the tradition there cited Hermes
invented the single σῦριγξ, Silenus the
πολυκάλαμος, and Marsyas the method of
joining with wax. The annexed woodcut is taken from a bas-relief in the
collection at Appuldurcombe in the Isle of Wight (Mus.
Worsleyanum, pl. 9). It represents Pan reclining at the entrance of
the cave, which was dedicated to him in the Acropolis at Athens. He holds in
his right hand a drinking-horn [RHYTON] and in his left a syrinx, which is strengthened by two
transverse bands.

Pan with Syrinx. (From a bas-relief.)

The ancients always considered the Pan's Pipe as a rustic instrument, chiefly
used by those who tended flocks and herds (Hom.
Il. 18.526; Apollon. 1.577; Dionys. Perieg. 996; Longus, 1.2, 14-16,
2.24-26); but also admitted to regulate the dance (Hes. Scut.
278). This instrument was the origin of the organ [HYDRAULA].

The σῦριγξμονοκάλαμος was played like our
flute, not by a mouthpiece like the αὐλός
[see TIBIA]: hence the Schol.
ad Pind. Pyth, xii. says
that Midas, having broken the mouthpiece, played on the rest of the αὐλὸς as if it were a flute, i. e. by blowing
across the τρυπήματα. The σῦριγξ of the αὐλός, in Plut. Mus. 21 and
Aristox. p. 28, was probably a τρύπημα near
[p. 2.749]the mouthpiece (cf. Baumeister,
Denkm. p. 561; TIBIA).